Today is draft day, folks. So here is the last mock draft as we head into the final stretch of days without wiffleball. 

**Rob McLoughlin traded the 1st and 24th overall picks to Anthony Spataro for the 3rd and 22nd overall picks.

                                      1                               2

1-Spataro            Frawley                         Christian 

2-Sciore               Brisson                        Merola

3-McLoughlin     Perry                             Nassar

4-Hauberg           Field                             Persse

5-Copani             O'Donnell                     Alvarez

6-Hamilton          Jim                                Paladino

7-Meyers             DelVechio                     Lioto

8-Siegel              Korbas                           Dale

9-Koenig            Christian                        Melfi

10-Kires              J. Rebecchi                   Nappa

11-Chase P.        N. Rececchi                   Riccardi

12-Cole P.           Kovacs                          Wieczorek              

We are quickly approaching the 8th annual NSWL Opening Day. With all the expansion the league has gone through it now seems clear that this year is the year of the sleeper. Picks 1-5 seems pretty concrete, but the player order may change within those five picks. Everything else is up in the air at this point. 

A more in-depth look at the draft will be in the following post, but here is the second official mock draft of the spring season. 

Rob McLoughlin                  1- Dylan Frawley           24- Zach Christian 

Mike Sciore                           2- Joe Brisson               23- AJ Merola

Anthony Spataro                  3- Logen Field               22- Kal Nassar

Mark Hauberg                       4- Austin Perry               21- Logan Persse

Mike Copani                          5- Pat O'Donnell            20- Edgar Alvarez

Brad Hamilton                       6- Nick Jim                    19- Kory Dale

 John Meyers                        7- Ben Christian            18- Joe Nappa

 Matt Siegel                           8- Niko Rebecchi          17- Brandon Melfi

Noah Koenig                         9- Sean Korbas            16- Anthony Lioto

Steve Kires                           10- Nick Kovacs            15- Nick Paladino

Chase Parzych                     11- Justin DelVecchio    14-Mike Wieczorek

Cole Parzych                        12- Mike Riccardi          13- Jake Rebecchi

With this year's draft class being a little weak in certain areas, it is time break down each pick and what each player brings to the table. There are going to be some major sleepers in this class it is just a matter of who. 

Lets start with the first pick. Rob McLoughlin owns this one and has a pretty simple draft. Frawley is the best overall prospect and should go at the one spot. Also, McLoughlin will get Mr. Irrelevant. He'll have no choice in the second round unless he moves up. His team should be in good shape though. Rob is solid in all areas and will have Frawley who should be in the same boat. As long as whoever drops to the 24th pick, in this case Zach Christain, can get some timely hits they will be in good shape. He can also produce on the mound, and that's not bad for the last pick in the draft. 

The second pick belongs to the first time captain, Mike Sciore. The top five seems pretty set, as in who will be selected in this range. The order could be totally different though. I see him taking Joe Brisson with the second pick. He also can do it all and has more wiffleball experience. Brisson was scouted in the Cicero Wiffle League and signed a contract this winter. Sciore is also someone who is capable in all areas so a good reinforcement, which he gets here, is key. 

Logen Field is slotted in at the three spot in this mock draft. He is also a very good overall player. Field has a big bat and will be good in relief for Spataro. Kal Nassar gets selected by Spataro in this spot, because normally the last couple picks come down to simply knowing that person. 

The next pick belongs to Mark Hauberg, and he takes Austin Perry. However, Perry could go higher because of his popularity with so many people in the league. He wants to be better than last season, despite winnng Rookie of the Year. If he can come through with that Hauberg's team seems to be in really good shape early. I also see Logan Persse dropping to Mark all the way to the 21st pick. Persse played some games last year and did alright. He has a chance to be a solid pick and may even go higher than he is projected now. 

Mike Copani gets Pat O'Donnell with the fifth pick. O'Donnell brings speed and is a decent fielder who will man the strong side for this Cubs team. Not the best suitor but the best available player at this point. Inside sources have said that Copani will be taking Edgar in the second round. It doesn't seem out of the realms of possibility that he falls to Copani. Some may say this is higher than he should be selected, but, like I said before, the last couple of picks are determined by simply knowing the person. 

Brad Hamilton is the first pick who really needs to roll the dice. He needs pitching help, badly. That is one area of concern in Hamilton's game. He has two options here: Nick Jim or Sean Korbas. Jim is a better bat and not much worse of a pitcher than Korbas. Jim goes sixth the D-Backs. On the way around Hamilton grabs Kory Dale. He adds to the power of this already home run heavy lineup. 

John Meyers also needs some pitching help but has showed over the years he can hold his own. He picks up rookie Ben Christain with the seventh pick. Ben has a chance to be really good or a below average rookie. This is one of the gamble picks that a good amount of captains will have to make. With the 18th pick Meyers selects Joe Nappa. This gives them a huge advantage in the field. Joe is the best weak side fielder in the game. If his bat can come back this team could make a playoff run. 

Matt Siegel takes Niko Rebecchi with the next pick. He needs pitching help but also needs a bat to get on base for him. He opts for the offensive option and takes the 2015 Comeback Player of the Year. He also reunites with Brandon Melfi. Melfi will be able to bring some solid three spot offensive help but not much in the field. 

Noah Koenig needs pitching help badly as well. He gets the Cy Young winner from 2015 and the best pitcher in the draft pool. Koenig gets the bat he needs in Anthony Lioto in the second round. Not the most solid pick, but this kid can hit home runs and also is solid in the field. 

Steve Kires tries to get back to the World Series and picks Nick Kovacs and Nick Paladino in the process. Kovacs is better suited as a fielder but will pitch some quality innings. That's the bullpen help Kires didn't have last year. Kovacs will also stretch out extra base hits and jump start the offense if needed. Paladino gets selected a bit high here, but there is one upside to this pick, and that is chemistry. He will play solid defense but is an offensive concern.

Chase Parzych gets another very young team with his picks of Justin DelVecchio and Mike Wieczorek. DelVecchio cracks the list of top sleepers, maybe Wieczorek may as well.  These don't really address Chase's need of a pitcher and a good fielder, but he gets two overall solid players that should be able to hit all season. 

Cole Parzych rounds out the draft order for the second straight year. Mike Riccardi and Jake Rebecchi fall to him at the 12th and 13th pick. Riccardi has been pretty bad over the last couple years and is a big risk. Many might not take him because of clubhouse concerns and those are valid. He gives Cole some pitching depth that he needs, some pop and they both have great chemistry. Rebecchi gets taken 13th. That pick has a lot of value. Rebecchi will hit for a good average and be a solid 3-hole hitter. If he can clean up his defense he should be fine. 

As more information is released the draft order will be better finalized. Stay tuned for more as another mock draft will be released this week. 

Keep updated with all things wiffleball on Twitter, Instagram and here at LeagueLineup. 

Welcome to the first edition of "From the Stretch." Now seems like a fitting time to release the first mock draft of the year after the draft order was officially announced today. 

Many feel that this is a very weak draft class as compared to years past. That may be true but ponder this. The NSWL made sure that all 12 captains are the top 12 players in the league. This automatically weakens the draft class and puts more emphasis on the captains. The second point to this is that this is a mainly an un-scouted draft class. With guys like Dylan Frawley, Joe Brisson and Ben Christain all captains are just rolling the dice with who will perform and who will fall short of expectations.

Now, without further ado here is the first official mock draft of the 2016 NSWL season. Its wiffle time, folks! 

                                      1                                           2

Rob McLoughlin    Dylan Frawley                         Kal Nassar

Mike Sciore          Pat O'Donnell                          AJ Merola

Anthony Spataro   Austin Perry                            Edgar Alvarez

Mark Hauberg       Logen Field                             Zach Christian

Mike Copani         Joe Brisson                              Kory Dale

Brad Hamilton       Niko Rebecchi                         Joe Nappa

John Meyers         Ben Christian                           Nick Paladino

Matt Siegel           Nick Jim                                   Brandon Melfi

Noah Koenig         Justin DelVecchio                    Anthony Lioto

Steve Kires           Jake Rebecchi                         Sean Korbas

Chase Parzych     Mike Wieczorek                        Logan Persse

Cole Parzych        Mike Riccardi                           Nick Kovacs

These are configured with a few things in mind.

• Overall skill
• Captain needs
• Player popularity

These will change as more information is released, but as of right now there are a couple of major sleepers in this otherwise lackluster draft class. 

"From The Stretch" will be the official wiffleball blog of the North Syracuse Wiffleball League. These posts will update with fresh takes, player and team updates, rumors and scouting. 

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